Family coal-box.



T. EBERMAN. FAMILY GOAL BOX.

'APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 13, 1910.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. BBERMAN.

FAMILY GOAL BOX. APPLICATION mmmoow. 1a, 1910.

Patented Apr.4, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THEODORE EBERMAN, 01 DENVER, COLORADO.

FAMILY COAL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

Application filed October 13, 1910. Serial No. 586,859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE EBERMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Family Coal-Boxes; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in coal boxes adapted for familyuse, and therefore of such size as to be conveniently placed in thehouse in the vicinity of a stove where coal is used.

My object is to provide a receptacle of this character adapted to hold areasonable quantity of coal and in which the coal may be convenientlyaccessible, while at the same time it is prevented from escaping fromthe box when the door is open or removed.

An important feature of my improved construction consists in a hoodarranged above the door or opening in the front wall of the box andextending rearwardly therefrom, the hood being preferably archshaped andadapted to prevent the coal from falling directly in front of the doorupon the bottom of the box. This protecting hood causes the coal toenter the space directly in front of the door from each side, thusreventing the space in front of the door from filling and on thisaccount making it convenient to insert a shovel for coal removingpurposes.

Another novel feature consists in the fact that the forward extremity ofthe hood is provided with supporting legs which occupy positions onopposite sides of the door and extend rearwardly a short distance,

thus preventing the coal which enters the space directly in front of thedoor, from rolling out through the opening when the door is open.

In order to remove the dust from the bottom of the shovel as the coal isremoved from the box, a piece of flexible material, as felt, issupported at the bottom of the opening so that as the shovel with itscontents is removed from the door, it is convenient for the bottom orlower surface of the same to drag upon the felt cleaning device.

Still another feature consists in the manner of supporting thearch-shaped hood at its rear extremity, which consists of a metallicband bent upwardly to conform to the shape of the hood, and terminatingat its opposite extremities in upwardly projecting arms whose upperextremities are secured to the opposite sides of the box. The rearextremity of the hood rests u on the upwardly curved portion of thisdevlce, which affords an efficient support. The hood may be secured tothis support by suitable fastening devices, though but little fasteningwill be required in view of the particular construction and arrangementas will be readily un- ClGI'SlJOOd.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed todescribe the same 75 in detail, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved coal box.Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is avertical cross section taken on the line 3-3 Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is aperspective detail view of the hood. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary verticalsection similar to Fig. 2, but shown on a larger scale. Fig. 6 is afragmentary view similar to Fig. 5, but shown on a still larger scale.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate my improved box considered in its entiretyand composed of side walls 6, front and rear walls 7 and 8, a bottom 9,and a top 10, the latter being hinged as shown at 12 to swin upwardly tothe position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. This top has a rearwardlyprojecting part 13 which is adapted to engage the rear wall 7 of the boxnear the top when the top is lifted, and whereby it is supported in the1 raised position.

The front wall of the box is provided with an opening 14 adapted to beclosed by a vertically sliding door 15 whose opposite edges engage guidemembers 16 which are secured 105 to the box by the use of suitablefastening devices.

Located within the box and extending rearwardly from the opening thereinis an arch-shaped hood 17 whose forward extrem- 110 ity is provided withdepending members 18 located on opposite sides of the opening 14: andserving both to prevent the coal from escaping through the opening andalso serving as a support for the forward extremity of the hood. Thelower extremities of these members 18 are provided with outwardly turnedflanges 19 which rest upon the bottom of the box and may be securedthereto if desired. As illustrated in the drawing, the forward extremityof the hood is provided with an upturned flange 20 which engages thefront wall of the box on the inside. This front wall is also providedwith an inwardly turned flange 21 upon which the forward extremity ofthe hood rests and to which it may be secured by suitable fasteningdevices 22. The fastening devices for securing the flange 20 to thefront wall of the 'box are designated 23. The rear extremity of the"hood is supported by an archshaped member 24 whose opposite extremitiesmerge into supporting arms 25, whose upper extremities are secured tothe sides of the box as shown at 26 by suitable fastening devices 27,which also serve in part to connect exteriorly located handles 28 to theopposite sides of the box. These handles are further secured byfastening devices 29. The arch may be secured to the member 24: of thesupport by rivets or other suitable fastening devices 30.

The forward part of the box at the bottom of the opening 14 is providedwith a member 31 composed of felt or other suitable or similar materialadapted to clean the bottom of the shovel (not shown) employed inremoving the coal from the box. This device, as illustrated in thedrawing, consists of a piece of heavy felt which is fastened to theupbent part 32 of the forward extremity of the bottom of the box bymeans of screws 33, which are also passed through a plate 34 engagingthe felt in the rear. These screws are secured by nuts 35 applied totheir inner extremities.

As illustrated in the drawing, the bottom 9 of the box extends forwardlybeyond the front wall of the box as shown at 36, and is bent back uponitself as shown at 37 forming a ledge extending forward of the frontwall of the box. The part 32 extends upwardly from the rearedge of'thepart 37. It is, of course, evident that the felt or cleaning member 31maybe secured to the box in any suitable manner.

Then the device is in order it may be filled with coal by opening thetop 10. The coal will then occupy a position above and resting on thehood 17, and will also occu'py'the bottom of the'box on opposite sidesof the hood. A space, however, directly beneath the hood and directly infront of the opening 14, will contain a comparatively small amount ofcoal only. In other words,

this space will always be sufiiciently clear to make it convenient toinsert a shovel for removing the coal, and as that is removed directlybeneath the hood, the coal above and from opposite sides willautomatically take its place and this will occur as long as there is anycoal in the box, or at least any in the box above the hood.

The box may be mounted on casters 38 for convenience in moving it about.The handles 28 may be employed in moving it from place to place upon itscasters, or these handles may be used for carrying the box if desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A coal box having an arch-shapedhood extending rearwardly from thefrorrtwall of the box, which is provided with an opening for the removalof the coal, and means for supporting the rear portion of the hoodcomprising an arch-shaped member upon which the rear part of the hoodrests, the said member merging into upwardly extending arms which aresecured to the opposite side walls of the box, for the purpose setforth.

2. A coal box having an opening in its front, a hood provided at itsforward extremity with depending legs'enga'ging the bottom of the box infront on opposite sides of said opening for the removal of the coal anda support for therear extremity of the hood comprising a suspendedmember bent to conform to the shape of the hood, the said member merginginto upwardly extending arms which are secured to the opposite sides ofthe box, substantially as described.

3. A coal box havingya closableopening in its front wall adjacent thebottom of the box, and a hood arch-shaped and horizontally disposed fromfront to rear, whose forward extremityoccupies a position above the saidopening, the hood occupying a central location in the .box, and havingdepending members extending downwardly on opposite sides at its forwardextremity, the depending members engaging the bottom of the box, for thepurpose set forth. v

4. A coal box provided with'an opening in front for the removal of coal,and "a transversely curved .hood horizontally disposed from front torear, occupying a central position in the box above the space in frontof the opening, the'hood serving toprevent the coal from fallingdirectly from above into the space in front of the opening, but allowingit to enter from opposite sides,xsubstantially as described. 7

5. A 0021.1 box having an opening for the removal of coal, and 'aflexible member occupying a position at the bottom of the said openingand entirely outside of the recep-' tacle and adapted to engage thelower surface of a shovel as the latter is removed members between whichthe flexible device from the box, substantially as described.

6. A coal box provided With a front opening and having a shovel cleaningdevice extending across the lower part of the opening and entirelyoutside of the receptacle, substantially as described.

7. A coal box provided with a front opening and having a flexible devicefor shovel cleaning purposes, tWo opposing is clamped, the said deviceprojecting above the said members and located entirely outside of thebox, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature 15 in presence of twowitnesses.

THEODORE EBERMAN. Witnesses:

F. E. BOWEN, Honrnnsn UHLRICH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

